Giants say they didn't know of positive test

Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams, Chronicle Staff Writers

Published 4:00 am, Friday, January 12, 2007

The Giants said Thursday they had not known Barry Bonds tested positive for amphetamines last year, although a major-league source told The Chronicle that the Giants outfielder spoke about it with several people on the team at the time.

"Barry is the guy who went around telling everybody he tested positive," said the source, who requested anonymity because of the confidentiality issues surrounding drug testing.

The source said Bonds tested positive for the stimulant after the All-Star break. At that time, Bonds' former trainer, Greg Anderson, was fighting to stay out of jail for refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury investigating whether Bonds perjured himself when testifying that he had never used steroids.

Sweeney's agent, Barry Axelrod, said during a phone interview Thursday that his client had been dragged into the Bonds situation but that Sweeney played no part in the positive test.

"Mark hasn't given anything to anybody, and he didn't have anything," Axelrod said.

Bonds released a statement Thursday describing Sweeney as a teammate and friend who had "nothing to do this with matter." Bonds added, "I want to express my deepest apologies especially to Mark and his family, as well as my other teammates, the San Francisco Giants organization and the fans."

Last season marked the first time baseball tested players for amphetamines, drugs whose use had been widespread in the game for years. Unlike the game's amped-up steroids policy, which calls for players to be banned 50 games for a positive test, players are referred for treatment or counseling the first time they are caught using a stimulant. They also are subject to six additional unannounced tests over the next 12 months and can be subject to other unannounced testing after that.

The policy does not require that the team be notified of a player's first positive test for amphetamines, according to an MLB spokesman.

Wednesday night was "the first time we heard of this recent accusation against Barry Bonds," read a statement issued by the Giants on Thursday afternoon.

The news of Bonds' positive test comes as the Giants and Bonds are having protracted talks over a one-year contract that is expected to pay him $16 million next season. The two sides agreed in principle a month ago but have been unable to formalize anything.

Calls to Giants executives were referred to a team spokesperson, who said the club would have no comment beyond the statement.

The source who said Bonds talked openly last summer about his positive amphetamine test said the incident didn't create much reaction around the team and that the Giants' outfielder's reaction was essentially, "Now I have to get tested more."

The source said there was "a little buzz" when it was learned that Bonds had brought Sweeney into the situation. Sweeney was informed by union executive Gene Orza, his agent Axelrod told the Daily News.

"Mark was told that his name came up in this thing and he was told, 'If you have anything you shouldn't have of any kind, you probably shouldn't have it in your locker,' " Axelrod told The Chronicle. "Mark said, 'I don't have anything of that kind in my locker and I have no idea what you're talking about.' "

Sweeney had been among the few players who went out of their way last year to support Bonds and create a clubhouse environment favorable to the superstar. Sweeney arranged the "Giants Idol" event in spring training and invited Bonds to dress up as Paula Abdul to help him be more a part of the team and improve his image. Also, when Bonds hit his 715th homer, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time list, the team celebrated with champagne drunk in special flutes purchased by Sweeney.

Axelrod said the current situation was difficult for Sweeney and it probably would remain so.

"Obviously, there's a horse that's left the barn and can't be sucked back in as far as Mark's name being put out," the agent said. "I don't think you can clear your name once someone has associated you with something like that."

Two of Bonds' 2006 teammates contacted by The Chronicle, Randy Winn and Shea Hillenbrand, said they had not heard about Bonds' positive test until now. Both said it was unclear how Bonds naming Sweeney would affect the clubhouse dynamic.

"It just depends on the two different personalities, whether they can talk it out and deal with it," Hillenbrand said.

When Bonds failed the drug test, he already was under scrutiny by both a federal grand jury and Major League Baseball for suspected use of steroids and other banned drugs.

In 2003, federal agents in the BALCO steroids case seized doping calendars and other evidence indicating that Bonds and other athletes had been using steroids, human growth hormone and undetectable performance-enhancing drugs distributed by the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative in Burlingame.

In sworn testimony before a federal grand jury that year, Bonds denied using banned drugs, saying that his trainer, Anderson, told him he was giving him only flaxseed oil and an arthritis balm -- substances that matched the descriptions of "the clear" and "the cream," two performance-enhancing drugs at the heart of the BALCO case.

The government began investigating whether Bonds had committed perjury with that testimony.

Anderson later pleaded guilty to steroid conspiracy charges in the BALCO case. Last year, he was convicted of contempt of court and imprisoned after he refused to answer questions about Bonds and steroids before the federal grand jury investigating Bonds.

Bonds also is a focus of an internal baseball investigation into the sport's steroid era. That probe is being conducted by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell.

Steroids expert Charles Yesalis, professor emeritus at Penn State, said the use of amphetamines in baseball has been well-chronicled over the years, primarily as a means of helping players keep from wearing down.

"They could be performance-enhancing in two ways," Yesalis said. "The most common way historically over the decades was to help the players deal with the tedium of 162 games, the road trips, going out partying and recuperating the next day."

Players also talk about how the use of stimulants "allows you to be maybe more focused when you bat." He added that he knew of no scientific tests to confirm the drugs helped you focus.

Chronicle staff writers Henry Schulman and John Shea contributed to this report.